Xi Jinping may visit India for first time in 7 years for BRICS summit as ties warm

Chinese President Xi Jinping may lead a large delegation to India to attend the BRICS summit, sources familiar with the matter said.

Reuters reported Monday (local time), citing three sources with knowledge of the matter.

If the visit goes ahead, it would be Xi's first trip to India since 2019 — a gap of seven years. Coming after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China last year, a reciprocal trip by Xi would serve as a symbolic milestone in the ongoing thaw between the two countries, whose ties had long been strained.

India is hosting the BRICS summit Sept. 12-13.

Analysts say the visit would carry greater significance as a signal of stabilizing bilateral relations than as mere attendance at the summit itself, given the sharp deterioration in ties following a deadly border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in 2020.

According to one Indian source familiar with the matter, Chinese officials are finalizing accommodation and security arrangements in preparation for Xi's visit.

Two other Indian sources said Xi may bring a delegation of about 400 people — more than double the fewer than 200 who accompanied him on his last visit to India in 2019.

Officials from both sides are expected to use the summit as an opportunity to manage longstanding differences over border and regional security issues while exploring ways to expand exchanges, the sources said.

However, the final schedule for Xi's visit and the agenda for any bilateral talks have yet to be confirmed, the sources added.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had "no information to provide at this time" regarding Xi's potential visit to India.

Xi did not attend last year's BRICS summit in Brazil.

India's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also declined to comment.

China and India fought a war over their border in 1962 and have yet to formally demarcate it, leaving the two countries in an uneasy relationship across a 3,488-kilometer Line of Actual Control.

Ties deteriorated sharply in 2020 after soldiers from both sides clashed in the Galwan Valley in the Ladakh region of northern India, killing 20 Indian troops and four Chinese soldiers.

The two countries have since maintained negotiations through military and diplomatic channels and began seeking to repair relations after reaching a border-patrolling agreement in October 2024.

Relations have shown further signs of improvement as both countries found themselves under pressure from US President Donald Trump's trade policies last year.

Modi visited China for the first time in seven years last year to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, where he held talks with Xi.

Since then, the two countries have gradually expanded exchanges — including resuming direct flights for the first time in five years — though a full normalization of relations remains slow.

On Tuesday, the two sides are holding high-level border talks in Beijing for the first time since last August. Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission and China's foreign minister, and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval — the special representatives of their respective governments — are set to meet for the 25th round of border negotiations.